The readmission of golf into the Olympics late last year marked the comeback of the sport into the games after more than a decade.
Golf was last played at the Olympics in 1904 but was taken off as there were disagreements over the format to be used in Olympic golf.
The sport will make its re-appearance at the 2016 Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, exactly 112 years since it made it to the games.
While the sport’s readmission is by now old news, the golfing fraternity is however still abuzz with excitement at the prospect of seeing the sport at the Olympics and Botswana’s golf community is no exception.
In an interview with Standard Sport, the spokesperson of Botswana Golf Union (BGU), Roger Lal, said the appearance of golf at the Olympics after a decade long absence is a very exciting and overwhelming development for the sport.
He says this development will push the popularity of golf even among amateur players as they will put in more effort to be part of the Olympics. The BGU spokesperson says since the Olympics will offer the sport of golf an opportunity to increase its popularity as many countries will vie for an opportunity to send its golfers to the games.
“Every country is represented at the Olympics and a lot of countries will have golfers qualifying to take part at the Olympics. This will give the sport more exposure as the Olympics are televised and watched by millions of people around the world,” he told Standard Sport.
With Golf being regarded as an expensive sport, Lal expressed hope that the sport’s comeback to the world’s premiere sporting showpiece will help increase the sponsorship by governments and private sector to ensure it becomes accessible to as many people who love the sport as possible.
With only six years to go before the Rio 2016 Olympics, the BGU spokesperson told Standard Sport that his union is already setting in motion plans to ensure the country has representatives at the games.
He says the BGU has already set up a committee of four people to look into the development of golf at the grassroots.
“We are looking at introducing golf in schools just as it is with other sports like netball and football,” Lal said.
While admitting that there is lack of more committed sponsors to help with grassroots development, Lal says the union is very keen to develop young talents at a very young age.
On the format in place to select people to take part at the Olympics as well as the format of play at the games, Lal expressed contentment at the criteria.
Currently, it is said that 120 golfers will be eligible to play at the Olympics. The golfers will be divided into two categories, men and ladies, each comprising of 60 golfers. In each of the categories, fifteen places will be reserved for the world’s highest ranked countries regardless of their countries while countries will be expected to send a maximum of two golfers, one man and one lady to fill the remaining forty-five slots.
This will mean that professional players like Tiger Woods and Michelle Wie, who are some of the players who helped sway the decision of the Olympic Committee Board to readmit Golf into the Olympics will automatically qualify.
Lal says if things stand as they are and professionals are allowed to compete at the Olympics, the experience will be very good for amateurs as they can learn a lot from such established golfers. He says this will also increase the popularity and appeal of the sport of golf.
Meanwhile, Standard Sport has it on good authority that the BGU will be hosting a delegation from the South African Professional Golfers Union in the near future.
The delegation is expected to come and assess local professional golfers and see their ability to compete in the professional circuits. It is expected that the delegation will, after assessment, give a feedback on the status of local professional golfers in the country and give recommendations on what needs to be done to help them improve.
Positive assessments will open doors for the local professional golfers as they will be able to enter the professional circuit and be able to compete in the money spinning professional ranks outside the country.
This latest development, coming at the moment when golf is making a comeback to the Olympics, is seen as a step in the right direction for golf in Botswana as it will attract new local talent to the sport.
